There are multiple schools of thought on anti-skate, discussed ad nausaeum on this forum and elsewhere. I won’t dive into that debate, but will simply describe what I did. I followed the SoundSmith method, which is to apply just enough anti-skate that the arm moves very slowly inwards on the smooth surface in the runout section (not in the groove). I was lucky that one of my test records has a large smooth grooveleess run out area so I use that. You need to experiment to get it to not move in at all, then reduce AS a tiny bit until it very slowly moves in. Using this method, my AS mechanism ended up looking like in the photo below. Hope that helps.

Dorian

BAF912E2-FEC0-4C35-9AF1-236BB247628F.jpeg

Thanks Dorian,

That does help. It looks like the pic shows your AS mech. with the tone arm at inner part of the album (max travel of the mech.)? And, I see that you have only the two rings on the upper arm. Some of the discussions talk about multiple rings and brass weights on that lower arm. Not sure where they're getting all that skating power from that they'd need that much compensation?? I've been playing around with other setup and varying VTA and VTF. Once I have a good idea on that, I'll work on the AS setup. I do get the theory and it seems this is the final fine tuning adjustment. I can see why some have dismissed it and/or don't want to bother but the merits expressed by yourself and some other knowledgable people urges me to get this figured out. Kind of the Holy Grail of TT setup!!

Dorian wrote:Thanks Harry. I do have the arm up a touch at the rear; had it there for the MIMC and actually brought it down a little for the Nova but its still above parallel. Precise alignment was achieved using a SMARTractor and Adjust+ for azimuth+.

Both you and Jonathanb recommended to adjust the loading. I had been running the Herron unloaded, per Keith Herron's advice. But today I first tried 500 ohms and then 1000. Made a significant improvement to the sound, especially the 1000. Really opened it up, without losing the warmth and smoothness of the bass and midrange. Definitely no etch or harshness at all. Really sounds great now! I borrowed this Nova from Jonathan but I may have to convince him to sell it to me, as the more I listen the more I like it!

After reading HW's recommendations and your results, I've loaded my Nova to 1000 ohms...OMG , the improvements are amazing to say the least.

JimmyL wrote:It looks like the pic shows your AS mech. with the tone arm at inner part of the album (max travel of the mech.)?

No I think that was taken before I dropped the needle. There's still a lot of play in the AS mechanism.

JimmyL wrote:And, I see that you have only the two rings on the upper arm. Some of the discussions talk about multiple rings and brass weights on that lower arm. Not sure where they're getting all that skating power from that they'd need that much compensation??

mreeter wrote:After reading HW's recommendations and your results, I've loaded my Nova to 1000 ohms...OMG , the improvements are amazing to say the least. Thankful for the information, advice and people of this Forum

Yes was a real 'ear-opener' for me too! Went from being an ok cart but not as good as the MIMC Star, to an excellent cart on-par with, but different to, the MIMC Star.

mreeter wrote:After reading HW's recommendations and your results, I've loaded my Nova to 1000 ohms...OMG , the improvements are amazing to say the least. Thankful for the information, advice and people of this Forum

Yes was a real 'ear-opener' for me too! Went from being an ok cart but not as good as the MIMC Star, to an excellent cart on-par with, but different to the MIMC Star.

My tubed phono pre only adjusts (as far as I can see) to 600 ohms... sounds fantastic but I'd like to try 1000. I'll inquire to see if this is possible with the manufacturer.

mreeter wrote:After reading HW's recommendations and your results, I've loaded my Nova to 1000 ohms...OMG , the improvements are amazing to say the least. Thankful for the information, advice and people of this Forum

Yes was a real 'ear-opener' for me too! Went from being an ok cart but not as good as the MIMC Star, to an excellent cart on-par with, but different to the MIMC Star.

My tubed phono pre only adjusts (as far as I can see) to 600 ohms... sounds fantastic but I'd like to try 1000. I'll inquire to see if this is possible with the manufacturer.

It will sound more open with 1000 ohms so that is between you and your system if you need that. I like it as open as possible but some people like that tight focused sound, six of one half dozen of the other. When I use A-S I set it so it activates just before the arm hits the record and the weight side is parallel with the record at the end of the music.

I still couldn’t get the Nova open enough for my liking even loaded at 1000 ohms, compared to the MIMC Star. I played around with VTA quite a bit too. So I’ve gone back to the MIMC Star. It seems to be the best fit for my tastes and system/room. YMMV.

After extensive review on set-up, I prefer the higher VTF of 1.75g and got the best AS with 3 rubber washers high up on the lower arm and two low down on the upper arm - very slow skate to the inside and both channels appear balanced and undistorted. I don't have a azimuth (fozgometer) etc. so can only adjust the cart level and couldn't really discern better sound adjusting +1/-1 degree change. So, I'll leave it as it is until I can borrow a better testing device.